Judicial System

Underlying the judicial structure are the four schools of thought in Islamic law. They are: the Hanbali school; the Shafii school; the Hanafi school; and, finally, the Ma'liki school.

Before the unification of the Saudi judicial system, the courts, as well as individual judges, used to derive their legal judgments from these various schools. That is to say, in the Western Region there were two dominant schools of thought - the Hanafi, and the Shafii, whereas in the Central Region, the Hanbali school had been the only major source of legal guidance.

The Courts/Judiciary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now issues its rulings/judgments/decisions on the basis of what is stated in the Holy Qur’an and on the Sunna (practices/mode of life) of the Prophet, and is guided without being limited to the specific opinion of any one of the aforementioned schools of law.